Big Bone Lick

BonsaiHiker and his family took a day trip in August “to a nearby state park known for its concentration of large extinct mammals.  It also has a few that aren’t extinct yet.”

See their photo album

TheBassmaster95 posted a video on YouTube showing him fishing at Big Bone Lick State Park.  Here is his report:

“I guess fishing was just okay.  Not one of my good days though.  The bluegill in there are pretty small, as you can see.  The first time I went to Big Bone Lick State Park, I was catfishing.  Well, I thought the place was just abundant with catfish until I actually hooked what I thought to be a catfish.  It was a bluegill.  That was what had been biting my chicken liver.  So I decided to go bluegill fishing down there.  Like I said, it was a slow day.  I was using size 8 or 10 eagle claw salmon egg hooks.  They are a great hook for bluegill because they are so small.  Another good thing to have is a small bobber.  If you are fishing with a lot of bait stealers, you need to be able to detect those tiny bites that you can’t detect with a big bobber.  Some times your bobber may only be moving in a direction and you don’t even know that that is a fish biting.”

T. David had a chance to visit Big Bone Lick State Park and was pleasantly surprised to discover a herd of bison.  The bison are part of an effort to ensure their continued existence in the United States.  These magnificent beasts once ruled the prairie, but indiscriminate hunting reduced their numbers to less than 1000.  Through conservation efforts and "captive" herds, such as the one at Big Bone Lick State Park, bison are no longer an endangered species.

For more great bison photos, check out T. David’s collection of photos of “The Bison Bunch.”

Wim and Hanlie are two “very ordinary South Africans” who felt obliged to go traveling “so that we would have something to talk about.”  They wrote in their blog that they are currently camped at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky “and as I’m writing this it is storming like you can’t believe.  The new tent is holding out well, the lightning is making almost permanent light outside, the wind is blowing bubbles to all sides of the tent and the rain is pouring down like there’s no tomorrow.  We heard all our (unwashed) dishes being blown from the table outside but they’ll have to wait for the morning.  I wonder if the bikes have been blown over yet.”

Read about the rest of their trip

There were two blog postings about field trips to Big Bone Lick State Park. 

The first was Discovery School Days:  “We enjoyed a day with the park naturalist.  He led us in a fun lecture about the ice age that covered this part of KY.  The kids all took part in role playing saber-tooth tigers, sloths, mammoths, even ice moving across land…an excellent use of creative dramatics! “At lunch, Mrs. Rachel lit a fire and everyone roasted marshmallows.  Then we spent the afternoon learning survival skills that may have been used by American Indians in this area.  We learned flint napping, jewelry making, even how to start a fire using a bow and hearth… not by rubbing two sticks together!  It was a great day!!”

The second report was by Hoppy Hollow Farm: “We learned about the Ice Age and learned survival skills, including how to start a fire.  The naturalist was exceptional and we got all this for $3 a student. It was an incredible deal!!

Melissa is a homeschool mom to three beautiful children ages 12, 10, and 3.  They use Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophies of learning the natural, everyday hands-on life way.  They especially enjoy learning and growing together beyond the classroom doors in God’s amazing creation in nature.

On Wednesday they went on a very fun field trip with some of the other families from their co-op to Big Bone Lick State Park.  Their naturalist guide taught the kids three different sessions on bison, animal tracks, and survival in the wild.

Melissa was surprised to learn that bison are quite dangerous.  They do not like anyone or anything in their territory and will quickly charge to eliminate it.  And the fact that they can weigh up to a ton, run 40 mph (humans can’t run that fast, even Olympics competitors), and can leap over 6 feet, she wouldn’t want to get in their space.  Bison are primarily all muscle, and that is how they are so powerful.

 See more photos on Melissa’s blog

When does curious become nosy?

JR from Cincinnati and her husband were asking themselves that question on Valentine’s Day when visiting Big Bone Lick in Kentucky.  They had just come from Rabbit Hash in a strange frame of mind, given the unusual characteristics of that small hamlet.  On a whim, instead of walking to see the bison herd as they usually do when visiting there, they headed down to the sulphur spring.

After a few wrong turns, they finally smelled, and then saw, the spring.  They took some photos and marveled at the briny bubbles coming up from the ground.  That’s when her husband saw a single red rose in the grass right off the trail.

Upon closer inspection, they discovered it had a note wound tightly around the stem and tied with a piece of blue ribbon.  Nobody else was in the parking lot or on the trail, so they decided to take a peek.

Read the rest at Guerilla Wordfare